Global polarization of Λ hyperons in Au + Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV

Global polarization of $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ hyperons has been measured to be of the order of a few tenths of a percentage in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{{}_{NN}}}$ = 200 GeV, with no significant difference between $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ and $\overline{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}}$. These new results reveal the collision energy dependence of the global polarization together with the results previously observed at $\sqrt{{s}_{{}_{NN}}}$ = 7.7--62.4 GeV and indicate noticeable vorticity of the medium created in noncentral heavy-ion collisions at the highest Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider collision energy. The signal is in rough quantitative agreement with the theoretical predictions from a hydrodynamic model and from a multi-phase transport model. The polarization is larger in more peripheral collisions, and depends weakly on the hyperon's transverse momentum and pseudorapidity ${\ensuremath{\eta}}^{H}$ within $|{\ensuremath{\eta}}^{H}|<1$. An indication of the polarization dependence on the event-by-event charge asymmetry is observed at the $2\ensuremath{\sigma}$ level, suggesting a possible contribution to the polarization from the axial current induced by the initial magnetic field.

Global polarization of Λ hyperons in Au + Au collisions at sNN=200 GeV | Litlas